Mother of Romain Dirrig 'flabbergasted' to learn her son, who vanished three
years ago, is a 'suicide bomber volunteer' on a leaked Isil list that
includes her mobile number with the proviso: 'Don't phone the family even if
I die'

The former French student headed to Syria to become a 'suicide bomber'Photo: Reuters

The mother of a former French student and vineyard worker who disappeared three years ago learned only on Friday that he had become a willing “suicide bomber” in Syria after his name appeared on a list of Isil recruits leaked to the Telegraph.

French police and intelligence were also apparently unaware of his radicalisation as the family had not been contacted by anyone since he vanished.

Romain Serge Joseph Dirrig, whose jihadist name is Khattab al-Franci, appears on meticulously compiled files detailing recruits' name, family and background along with contact numbers for next of kin.

Since then, police have sweeping powers to search properties and place suspected radicals under house arrest for months at a time.

A tearful Mrs Dirrig said that the family hadn't seen him since June 2013. At the time, he was "not in a good way" mentally, and had been deeply affected by the death of his grandmother, as well as flunking his second year of psychology studies at Strasbourg university, and suffering a "romantic setback".

"I’m flabbergasted; it’s not like him at all. He was a lovely boy who would put himself between two people in a fight, not start one"

Mother of Romain Dirrig

He had briefly worked in a “restaurant in vineyards” after his studies, she said, but couldn’t keep a job down.

"He was a very good person but a bit lost and we didn't know how to help him. He was a bit bipolar - up one day and down the next. Before he left he said he didn't feel right in the head and wanted to see a doctor. I regret I didn't go with him," she said.

“One day we talked about things. I told him either you get into line or you ship out. That night he left and we didn’t see him for four months. He was no longer the same.”

He left home in 2012 and lived in social housing in Strasbourg. “Perhaps he fell in with a bad lot there,” she said.

“He wanted to live his life, he was adult, so we let him go in the hope he would get in touch. But we didn’t know where he was.”

She added: “Every time the phone rings, I hope it’s him. Not having any news has deeply affected me. In fact, only yesterday I learned that I have systemic cancer, which I’m convinced, is linked to his disappearance.”

She questioned why he had left his mother’s mobile number with the paradoxical proviso not to contact her “even if I die”.

"Maybe he had his identity card stolen. Maybe he has nothing to do with all this"

Mother of Romain Dirrig

“For me, it’s clearly a cry for help. That’s how I see it. We must save him. He is someone who is very kind who was weakened by a series of events. We must save him.”

But she said that she still held out hope that the information was false.

“Maybe he had his identity card stolen. Maybe he has nothing to do with all this.”

She said she would try and contact the French authorities to help track him down.